The present invention broadly relates to an apparatus for extracting a tubing segment from a member in which said tubing segment is inserted, and more particularly to a tool for assisting in the removal of broken tubing and needle tips from catheter hubs.
Catheters are many times placed into the vein of a medical patient, for example, to maintain a patient's nutrition via intravenous feeding. Catheters normally terminate in an entrance hub exterior of the patient's skin. The tip of a piece of tubing running from a source of, for example, intravenous solution is removably inserted in the catheter hub to couple the catheter with the source of fluid. Many times the tubing must be removed and replaced with the tips of syringe needles and the like. In any event, the sticky, high-sugar solutions employed many times function as an adhesive and cement the tubing tip to the catheter entrance hub. Many times then, when an attempt is made to remove the tubing tip from the catheter hub, the tubing tip will fracture at the outer edge of the hub and remain lodged in the hub.
In the past, such a mishap has required removal of the catheter from the patient, entailing patient discomfort and expense in time and money for removal and replacement. In some instances, the catheter cannot be readily removed, as when a Hickman catheter that actually extends into the heart is employed. In the latter instance, past practice has required that the hub containing the tubing tip be severed from the catheter and a new hub spliced onto the catheter. Considerable effort is involved in making such a splice and results in less than a satisfactory substitute.
Accordingly, it is a broad object of the present invention to eliminate the need to replace catheters or splice new hubs onto exisiting catheters when a tubing tip is broken off and lodged in the catheter hub. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple, easily manipulable, relatively inexpensive apparatus for removing the broken tip from a catheter hub, and more specifically, to provide such an apparatus that will achieve its intended purpose with a minimum of or no discomfort to the patient.